Wrapped In Piano Strings
by swaggyzebraTW
Summary: Takes place after "Code" where Tory confronts Ben about his going behind the pack's back to take part in the game. She is stunned to hear that he was actually in on the game and didn't tell anyone, and will Ben be able to tell her that it was all an accident? That he meant no harm? One things leads to another, as it usually does. :) Tory/Ben fluff in the end.


**BACKSTORY: This takes place at the end of code, where Tory and Ben are in the examination room, talking about why Ben had been talking to the Gamemaster while he was on **_**Sewee**_**. She had seen it in his head, the two of them talking, and she is now asking why he did it; why he betrayed her and the rest of their pack. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Virals**_** or any of the characters mentioned in this piece, all rights go to Kathy Reichs, he son, and her people. **

I couldn't help but fall to my knees after hearing Ben's startling revelation. My right hand clutched desperately at my chest as though I was having a heart attack, and in my haze, I might as well have been.

"Ben," I wheezed, panting like a marathoner despite my attempts to act nonchalant. "I saw you talking to him, aboard _Sewee._ Why—_"_

He looked up, his head lifting from its resting place on his hands. "How did you see it? Was it when you were in my head, because that's the only way I can think that you would have seen the exchange."

No words came to my mouth, so I simply settled for a terse nod. My head felt as though it were spinning, and I could have sworn that the white walls of the examination room were moving. Sweat dampened my palms, which I hastily rubbed against my already damp jeans.

"I didn't mean for it to get violent," he explained. "At first, it had just been me and Rome, planning a game for my friends that would make me look like a hero in their eyes."

My voice finally finding me, I interrupted his explanation. "Ben, we already see you as a hero. After all we have been through together, as a _pack_. We solved the mystery of Anne Bonney, for Pete's sake! We wouldn't have been able to do that without you—"

"And that was cool in all, but that still placed me in the same position as Hi and Shelton in your eyes, Tory. You saw me the same way you saw them; like family. Like brothers."

Again, I cut in, not seeing how any of this was reason enough for him pairing up with a psychotic criminal. "I don't see the problem with me seeing you as family, Ben! And, why would that ever warrant you to go off with a maniac and take part in his terrible games?"

His gaze shifted away from me, flitting to a wall. "It would have been all good," he said. "Except, you kept seeing Jason, and doing all these things with him, without any of us. It was _Jason_ this, and _Jason_ that—"

Anger swept through my veins, giving me the strength to stand back up. "Why are you dragging Jason into all of this? He had little to do with any of this story, or this game, or our pack."

"You really don't see it, do you, Tory?" Ben said, his voice sounding weak and resigned.

I shook my head, and my voice might have raised an entire octave. "What are you talking about?"

He still refused to look to me, but he continued in a whisper, "I did this for you, Tor."

If I was confused before, I was even more confused now. "How did your doing all this bring anything good to me?"

Ben stood up abruptly, looking me directly in the eyes with newfound force. "I was jealous of Jason, okay, Tory? I wanted to make myself seem better than him in your eyes, and I didn't want to be a brother to you, or just another pack mate. I wanted to be _more_ than that to you."

My lips opened to speak, but my voice failed me once more. My throat felt raw with emotion, and my thoughts swam in confusion.

I had always had feelings for Benjamin Blue since the beginning, when we had fist met. And, none of those feelings were really brotherly or family related. They had started out as an average teenage crush, which I figured would eventually wear off. After months of us being friends, and going through all the Viral-related problems, that crush had blossomed into something else entirely.

Love? I doubted it. After all, I was still a teenager, living with her dad and his girlfriend; still with a deceased mother who died in a drunk-driving accident over a year ago. I was still nieve, although not nearly as much as I was just a few months ago. However, I doubted that I knew what love truly was, or how to identify it, so I fingered that I was not quite in love with Ben. I was, however, very fond of him.

"Tory?" Ben's shaky voice shook me out of that reverie.

I shook my head as though to clear it. "Um, yeah?"

A sigh escaped his partially parted lips. "Is that all you're going to say about what I told you? No "I like you back," or "I'm sorry, I still love Jason?""

My eyes flicked around the room nervously, searching for an exit, probably. Seeing none other than the door, and knowing that being a coward was the worst solution to this issue, I looked back to the floor and studies the seemingly perfect tiles.

"Tor?" His voice asked again, obviously wanting to know my true opinion on the matter at hand.

I wasn't sure that I wanted him to know that, but I launched into speech anyway, my voice hurried and barely audible.

"There is nothing between me and Jason, we're _just friends_. I don't feel anything for him, or at least not what I feel for you, although right now I don't know what I feel, Ben. I feel betrayed, and keep asking myself why you would ever think that this was a good way to get my attention—"

The rest of my words were cut off abruptly by lips pressing against mine. Surprised, it took me a few seconds to fully comprehend what was going on, and when I finally caught up, I found my hands involuntarily reaching up to tangle into Ben's damp hair, effectively pulling him closer to me.

This kiss was like none of the ones I had shared with Sam behind one of the Massachusetts locations of Dunkin Donuts. Instead, this one felt somehow more sloppy, yet more meaningful. Rain water—from either Ben's hair or mine, I had no idea which—fell down between our interlocked faces, and his hands were awkwardly at his sides before he finally brought them up to cup my face, and he pulled away.

I was breathless, and not sure what exactly had just happened besides the fact that I had just kissed Benjamin Blue, who was one of my fellow Viral-pack mates.

"Sorry," he said, running a nervous hand through his tangled hair, just as I had a few short moments ago. "I shouldn't have—"

I raised a hand stopping him from continuing. To my own surprise, a giggle flew from my throat, and I found myself quickly being enveloped by a full onslaught of laughter.

Ben was clearly confused. "What are you laughing about?" He asked, sounding indignant and defensive.

"You, Ben Blue, super-strong, fellow Viral, were jealous of _Jason_?" I said between fits of laughter.

I felt a light punch to my shoulder. "Come on, it was reasonable." He defended. "You were spending a lot of time with him, and—"

"Whitney said I needed him for Cotillion, and he was the only popular person in our school who didn't hate me. You didn't seem interested in attending all the snobby events anyway, so I figured you would be fine with it. Never would I have ever thought you would make such a big deal about it." I explained, feeling light and easy for the first time since the game had started.

"So you don't feel anything for Jason?" He clarified, looking a little confused and surprised. Possibly embarrassed.

Shaking my head, I made the fairly bold move of wiping the sweat off my hands and entwining my fingers with his. "Nope," I answered. "We're just friends."

A sigh of relief pressed out of his lips, and he laughed nervously. "I guess this whole game was for nothing, then?"

I nodded. "Although, I suppose we wouldn't be talking about this right now if it hadn't happened. Not that the game was worth Marchant's life, but I guess this is a decent enough outcome."

"I'm so sorry, Tor," he said. "I'll confess to the cops, and do anything. I really didn't mean for any of this to happen. If I had known—"

"It's not your fault, Ben. Just promise me something, okay?"

He looked hopeful, and nodded. "Anything, Tory."

I exhaled. "Don't go behind our backs again, and have faith in us, okay? Hi, Shelton, and I all trust you, so you don't need to prove yourself to us."

"Okay,"

"Good," I said. "Now, how about we see to getting to the bunker? I think the rain had stopped and the roads have been reopened."

Ben nodded. "Sounds good."

I was walking out the door when I felt a hand grasp my arm. Turning, I saw that Ben was looking at me, his eyes glowing a little in the bright hospital fluorescents.

"What?" I asked, leaving my arm where it was.

His words were stuttered, which was different than how I was used to them sounding. "Tor, what does this make us?"

I hadn't really thought about it to be entirely honest. Sure, when I had first moved here from Massachusetts I had always had foolish dreams and hopes of someday becoming Ben Blue's girlfriend. I had a crazy-teenage hormone-driven crush on him, which never seemed to truly fade, even now, when it seemed to have evolved into something much more.

A normal teenage girl would have had no reservations about dating him, had they been in my place. But I was not normal. I was Viral—a pack-leader that was responsible for saving the innocent and managing my small little pack of parvovirus-infected animals. And, I wasn't sure I could maintain a relationship with my second-in-command while risking my life and dealing with all of the normal crap of hiding things from the people I love.

"Tory?" He repeated, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "I don't know, Ben."

A hand grasped mine, and I looked down to see his long slender fingers enlaced in mine. I gave him a weak smile. "I guess we'll figure it out?"

"Sounds good to me," he agreed, grinning as we walked out of the examination room and back into the crowded hallway.

**A/N: Gosh, that was shorter than I would have liked, but it just lost all appeal to me. I came back from the nerd fighter chatroom, and just didn't feel like writing any more for it. Hope you all liked it, and please review. **

**I'll write more for this fandom if people want me to, just PM me or something. In the meantime, have a great rest of your day/night, and possibly look at some more of my stuff. **


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